Negotiated Rulemaking Meeting to be Re-scheduled

Date: January 15, 2009
Contact: Outer Banks Group, 252-473-2111 ext. 148

Superintendent Mike Murray announces that the January 21-22, 2009 meeting of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee is canceled. The February 3 meeting will occur as scheduled and a Federal Register Notice has been submitted to schedule a final meeting on Thursday – Friday, February 26 - 27, 2009. The latter meeting will begin each day at 8:30 a.m. at Wright Brothers National Monument in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.

Cancellation of the late January meeting will give several subcommittees additional work time to continue preparation of proposals on several key unresolved issues, including the designation of ORV routes and areas, site specific management at inlets and Cape Point, hours of allowable night driving, and management of beaches in front of the villages during the off-season. Details and status of the subcommittee proposals will be reported to and deliberated by the full committee at the February 3 meeting. The late February meeting will provide the Committee with time to integrate the various subcommittee documents into a comprehensive package for final deliberation.

“I commend the Committee members for their continued hard work on these very difficult issues,” said Superintendent Murray. “NPS is committed to completing the negotiated rulemaking process. Though we are operating under firm deadlines for completing the process, I want to ensure that the remaining meetings are scheduled and structured to give the Committee its best chance of success.”